I am a mother/teacher/rabbi's wife. These are some of my adventures with kids!

Tuesday, 12 June 2012

Parashat Shelach Spy vs Spy

I sat down with the girls and said, "We have a problem. The Jewish people are in the dessert and they think maybe Hashem's plan for living in eretz Yisrael isn't a good plan. They think we need to go check. What do you think?"
"But Hashem is always right!" Cohava countered.
"And I love eretz Yisrael!" Gabi exclaimed.
"Ok Kalev ben Yefuneh," I said to Cohava, "I know you are right, but I need to send some spies to check. I need you, and Yehoshua bin Nun (Gabi) and ten others to go and see. I trust you. What do you think spies need?" The girls worked on a list, which Cohava then wrote down.
Soon after they went to bed.
I got to work on what I considered crucial spy-gear, binoculars. . I only had two toilet rolls, so I stapld them together for one set. I cut holes in and disposable coffee cups for the other two. I tied on some string and left them for the girls to decorate. Viola!
Monday was the Queen's Birthday (ok, actually it was a few weeks ago, but in Australia it is celebrated then. whatever) so there was no school!
We decided to take our spies on a surprise adventure and chose the Melbourne zoo. We packed some of the items on their list and headed on. When we were parking I said, "Kalev, Yehoshua, we are almost there. Shall I tell you where we are?"
"We are at the zoo!" Cohava replied.
I was stymied. "How did you know?!?"
"I read the signs," she replied simply. Literacy is an amazing thing!
Although the children enjoyed observing the animals, their favorite part is a room where you can dress up and pretend to be various zoo related professionals. Gabi loved being a veterinarian.